1. Field
A positive active material in a rechargeable lithium battery and a method for preparing the positive active material are disclosed.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the size and weight of portable electronic equipment have become smaller, there is a greater interest in developing batteries having higher performance and larger capacity for use in such portable electronic equipment.
Batteries generate electric power using an electrochemical reaction material (referred to hereinafter as the “active material”) for each of a positive electrode and a negative electrode. Rechargeable lithium batteries generate electrical energy from changes in chemical potential during the intercalation/deintercalation of lithium ions at the positive and negative electrodes.
Rechargeable lithium batteries use materials that reversibly intercalate or deintercalate lithium ions during charge and discharge reactions for both positive and negative active materials, and include an organic electrolyte or a polymer electrolyte between the positive electrode and the negative electrode.
For positive active materials of a rechargeable lithium battery, lithium composite metal compounds have been used, and lithium composite metal oxides such as, for example, LiCoO2, LiMn2O4, LiNiO2, LiNi1−xCoxO2 (0<x<1), LiMnO2, LiNi1−x−yCoxMnYO2 (0<x<1, 1<y<1) or the like have also been considered.